An Invergowrie woman has shaved her head and raised more than £1000 towards a seven-year-old boy’s last-chance leukaemia treatment abroad.
Kassi-Lee Logan made the drastic change in aid of Dundee tot Garvie Winter, who has been through five rounds of failed chemotherapy since October.
Having exhausted all other options, his family now plan to take him to Italy for a pioneering treatment, at a cost of £95,000.
Kassi-Lee, an old school friend of the Garvie’s mum, Hayley, said: “The family have now reached the fundraising target because of the generosity of friends, relatives, strangers and the articles that ran in the press, which raised awareness of their situation.
“However, the £95,000 is just he money needed for the treatment. They also have their travel and living costs, plus they will have to go back to Italy after the treatment for follow-up appointments.
“That’s why I’ve been raising money by getting people to sponsor me to get my head shaved.
“I’ve always done crazy things with my hair but I’d never had it shaved. I wasn’t too nervous about it but my husband and my son were!
“However, when they saw it on Facebook Live while I was getting it done they said it was looking OK.
“The hair will grow back but what’s important is to raise the money and I’d like to thank everyone who’s donated.”
Kassi-Lee has raised a total of £1053 so far, with more money still to be collected.
Garvie was scheduled to be present at the head shave, which took place in Dizzy’s hair salon at Whitehall Crescent on Tuesday. However, he had to go for a hospital appointment in Edinburgh at short notice.
Garvie, a pupil at Fintry Primary School, first started showing symptoms of his illness on the weekend of October 21-22 when his family noticed he was sleeping a lot and not feeling his best.
He had to be taken out of school a few days later as he “didn’t seem right” and his parents took him to Ninewellls Hospital for blood tests.
He was later transferred to Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, where specialists confirmed he had leukaemia.
In the near future, he will go to Italy to have Car T Cell therapy, is a type of immunotherapy where cells are extracted from the blood and an artificial “receptor” is added, which enables the modified cell to produce chemicals that kill the cancer.
To make a last minute donation towards his trip, visit https://www.gofundme.com/garvies-car-t-cell-funds
